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The air is busy with a torrent of smoke and metal. Gleaming metal was everywhere in sight, and Wanda could do without seeing metal again for the rest of her life. Her home was being destroyed and and it was all her fault. Nothing's ever going to be okay again. She felt her head throbbing and humming and her chest contricting and her entire body shaking. She didn't notice the android aiming for her neck. A flash of black and sizzling blue later it was gone, replaced by Natasha's concerned face.
"You okay?" Natasha asked, her question answered by the terror on the youngster's face. "Come on; let's get you out of here."
Natasha supported Wanda firmly by the waist and ran towards the closest building, which happened to be a small house with firm wooden doors. Once inside, she let the girl crumple to her knees in paralyzed shock.
"It's your first fight right?" Natasha said. Wanda looked up and nodded mutely. "I get it. My first mission...I was terrified. And it wasn't on a floating city in the sky with flying gods and cocky robots. Well, maybe not that last one." She added with a wry smile. Then she abruptly paused to stun a robotic hand that had reached through a hole in the wall.
"Look, I don't know what you and your brother signed up for, but you don't have to be weapons...monsters like me. That choice was made for me a long time ago, but it was my choice to do everything I can to make up for that past. You might regret the choices you made in the past, but what matters is what you do from this moment on. You stay here, I'll get your brother and get you both out of here safely. Disappear into a nice quiet place. But you step outside that door, you're an avenger." Natasha finished and ran out of the house and into the foray.
When the scarlet witch finally emerged in her full glory. she turned to Natasha. "You're wrong you know. You're not a monster."
The two women shared a look of mutual understanding, then continued to fight the good fight.
